Residential and commercial air conditioners include as a part thereof heat exchangers which in turn include pipes through which coolant (liquid or gas) is pumped and upon which air condenses forming condensate. If left unattended, the condensate creates innumerable problems as it drips, forms and/or collects, such as creating rust, blocking normal drainage ports which results in fungus growth and attendant odors, overflow and damage, etc. Accordingly, it has been the conventional practice to collect such condensate, generally as it forms, in convector trays made from galvanized metal. Galvanized metal convector trays will, of course, rust with relative ease which in turn creates blockage of the drain ports thereof and the latter creates the problems heretofore noted, namely, dripping, blockage, overflow, fungus growth, undesirable odors, etc. It is therefore necessary to replace such rusted convector trays, but if replaced by similar galvanized convector trays, the immediate problem is solved but the long term problems remain. Furthermore, a particular problem arises when the galvanized metal convector trays are part of original installations in which pipes containing refrigerant or coolant pass through openings in the convector trays or the convector trays have peripheral slots which accommodate such refrigerant pipes.
In the case of refrigerant pipes passing through openings of conventional galvanized metal convector trays, the rusted trays are removed by simply cutting the trays into pieces and removing the trays from their installed positions surrounding the coolant pipes. In the convector trays which have a slot in the peripheral edge, these trays can also be cut and removed, but at times they can be bent and removed because of adequate working room. The removal of the convector trays is quite simple, but replacing the old convector trays with new convector trays creates a problem which heretofore has been solved by disconnecting the coolant pipes, reinserting the cooling pipes through the openings and/or in the slots of the new convector trays and reconnecting the pipes. This approach to the removal and replacement of the convector trays is extremely time consuming and costly.